U.S. Revokes Green Cards, Detains Soleimani Niece and Her Daughter

Overview

• The State Department canceled the U.S. permanent residency of Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter, and ICE took both into custody.
• Officials said Afshar supported Iran’s regime and its propaganda, and her husband is now barred from entering the United States.
• Marco Rubio, serving as secretary of state, announced the action and said the two women had lived in the U.S. as green card holders and now await deportation.
• Earlier this month, Rubio also revoked the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani and her husband, who left the country and are blocked from returning.
• The measures fit a broader U.S. practice of using visas, residency revocations, and travel bans as leverage, set against tensions dating to the 2020 U.S. strike that killed Qassem Soleimani.